Burning Like A Candle
by SkyeRockette
Summary: The life of a Ninja is never easy, especially during war. Comrades will die, family will be lost, and even the people you thought you knew best will shock you... but the Will of Fire burns strong in those who fight for their comrades. OC, includes: Kakashi, Iruka, Itachi, Minato, and more. Title change!
1. Prologue

AN: Welcome! This is Part 1 of my Naruto series Will Of Fire! I'm only putting up the prologue until I've got several more chapters written, because I don't want to accidently get two chapters up and never update again! Authors who do that piss me off:) But anywho, if you like the sound of this, then you can check out my profile for more info and updates! Or just add this to your alerts and you'll be notified when I start updating. Enjoy! SR

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"Kakashi-Sempai! I've done it!" A young voice yelled, running up to the silver haired boy. "I walked to the top of the tree!" Kakashi smiled and rubbed the top of her bright pink hair affectionately.

"Good job kiddo. Now I can teach you the next step." The four year olds eyes widened.

"YAY!" She screamed loudly, spinning in a circle with her arms outstretched. The Genin chuckled at her antics. "So what will I learn now!" She was wobbling slightly from all the spinning, her eyes unfocused.

"Once you get over your dizziness I'll show you." Kakashi was only six, but had been enrolled in the Academy at age four, and graduated that same year.

"Alright!" The pink haired girl bit her lower lip as she waited to the dizzy spell to pass. "I'm good now!" Kakashi snapped and visibly sent the chakra to his feet.

"It's the same basic concept, but it'll be a lot harder."

"Are you going to fly?" The young girl asked amazed.

"No." Kakashi chuckled again. "I'm walking on water." He stepped onto the slow river next to them and, with only a little trouble, made his way to the middle.

The girl excitedly pushed the chakra to her feet, and ran out onto the lake.

"Hamai!" Kakashi yelled, racing back to her. He reached down and managed to grab her before she completely slipped under water. He placed her back on the ground. "This is a lot harder then walking up a tree. The bark doesn't move underneath you, while the water does. You have to work on setting your chakra so that it's flexible enough to bend with the water."

"What does that mean?" The boy scratched the back of his head.

"I actually don't know, that's just what Minato-Sensei told me. But how I did it was by picturing the chakra at me feet as water itself, so that it could move like the water did, and hold me above it."

"Okay!" Hamai shouted. She closed her eyes, concentrating on her chakra for a moment, before stepping back onto the water. Kakashi watched impressed as she managed to stay standing for four seconds before slipping under. He quickly caught her again, so only her pants got wet.

They worked for three more hours, and by the end, Hamai and Kakashi were playing tag on the river, only having a few slips each. Wanting to challenge her more, Kakashi expanded their game to the hole clearing, so that Hamai would have to quickly change her chakra so she could run on the ground, up trees, and then across the water without pausing. Of course, this was also training for Kakashi, but he wouldn't admit that to the girl.

"Hey there! I thought I'd find you here." Minato Namikaze walked into the clearing, smiling as he saw Hamai chasing after Kakashi across the ground. The Jounin had no idea that his student was teaching his little sister everything he learned.

"Hey Minato-Sensei!" Kakashi yelled breathlessly.

"Hi big brother!" Hamai yelled, stumbling slightly. Kakashi decided to finally show off his teaching skills, and jumped against a tree to push off in the opposite direction. Minato about called out an unfair move when he saw Hamai copy him exactly.

"What the…?" Then Kakashi raced across the river and started climbing a tree over there. Hamai immediately followed after, completely terrifying her older brother. "Hamai don't run on the water! You'll… fall?" Hamai's foot only dipped slightly into the water from exhaustion, but otherwise she crossed just fine. He stared in shock as the kids passed back in front of him, Hamai finally tagging Kakashi. They fell down onto the ground breathing hard.

"Wasn't that cool!" Hamai shouted breathlessly at the blonde.

"What the hell! Kakashi have you been teaching Hamai behind my back?" The kids were shocked.

"Was I not supposed to?"

"She's two years younger than you!"

"She's the age I was when you started training me though. I just wanted her to have an edge over everyone else when she started at the Academy."

"She has three more years before Academy! She does not need to be running across water at age four! You're just now learning this! Why would you teach a four year old? She's not even supposed to be able to control her chakra at all yet! What the hell?" Minato continued ranting for at least an hour. He didn't stop until Hamai walked down the stairs of their house, now in dry clothes, and joined Kakashi on the couch. Minato stopped his pacing and took a deep breath. "Sorry… that just really scared me. You can continue teaching her if you want, you seem to have a knack for it. Just… just don't let me see any of the dangerous stuff."

"What part of being a ninja isn't dangerous?" Kakashi asked, throwing words Minato has once said back at him. Minato scratched his head and smiled.

"That's my point."

"So I can't show you how good I am with shurikin?"

"NO!"

"Creating paper bombs is probably out too, right?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes. Wait, what? I haven't even taught you that yet!"

"Just for future reference." The Genin grinned at the look of panic on his Sensei's face.

"On second thought, maybe I do want to know what all you're teaching her." The kids looked at each other quickly.

"Probably not." Minato hid his face in his hands.

"God help me."

"Don't worry big brother, I only burnt down three trees before Kakashi put it out!" They both started chuckling. Instead of more yelling like Kakashi expected, Minato flopped down onto the couch and groaned. Kakashi and Hamai merely laughed louder.


	2. The Squirrel Test

AN: Chapter 1! :)

Disclaimer: I hate these things. If I owned it, would I really be writing here?

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"Hello!" Minato yelled as he walked into the Academy room. "I'm Minato Namikaze, you're Sensei!"

"Hiya, Sensei!" Obito Uchiha yelled back, bursting with excitement. He and Rin Somah had been put on a team together, just the two of them!

"Hello, Minato-Sensei." Rin said much more calmly.

"You're probably both wondering why there's only two of you, right? Well the third person is waiting for us at Training Ground 34, so let's go!" Obito's smile faltered slightly, but he wouldn't let this get him down. He was still with Rin after all!

Kakashi was leaning against one of the three poles at the end of the clearing. Minato led his two new students towards him. No one noticed as Kakashi worriedly glanced towards the trees to his left.

"Rin, Obito, this is Kakashi. He graduated when he was four and I've been training him ever sense. He is a Chunin." Minato had practiced saying this over and over again, hoping the other kids wouldn't be too intimidated by Kakashi. This would be the first time he interacted with other kids besides Hamai, and he wanted it to go smoothly.

"Him! But he's so scrawny!" Obito, who was slightly chubby, pointed out immediately. The silver haired boy was indeed on the smaller side, however he made up for it with his commanding presence.

"He's already a Chunin!" Rin's eyes grew large and brought her hands together. Minato sighed. At least things were going as he had predicted; the boy was jealous, and the girl developed a crush. Kakashi was looking the two over, assessing them. Minato waited patiently, holding his breath.

"Hn." Was the boy's only reply. The Jounin realized his breath with a soft groan. This was going to be an interesting day.

"Alright!" He clapped his hands together loudly. "Let's get to know each other! I'm Minato Namikaze. I like cooking and forcing my little sister to taste test! I don't like when people are rude to each other. My dream is to be Hokage one day!" Everyone stared blankly at him. "You! Next." He pointed to the Uchiha.

"I'm Obito Uchiha! I like… well…" He glanced sideways, towards Rin, with a slight blush. "I don't like people picking on me! And my dream is to become an even better ninja then Madara Uchiha!"

"I'm Rin Somah. I like making friends. I don't like how weak people think kunoichis are. And my dream is to… umm…" But a loud snapping sound cut her off. Everyone turned and stared at the left side of the clearing. Obito, trying to look bold, threw a kunai towards the sound. Kakashi quickly threw one of his own, sending both kunai into the ground.

"What was that for?" The raven haired boy demanded. "There could be an enemy in those branches!"

"It's not an enemy." Kakashi grumbled. A small girl with bright pink hair dropped out of the branches. She folded her hands behind her back and shuffled her way towards the group slowly, her head facing down. "I told you to keep quiet!"

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-Sempai!" She looked up at him with large eyes. "But there was this cute, black squirrel and I really wanted to pet it! It was so fuzzy!" She reached out and held onto his shirt, begging him to understand her need for the furry animal.

"I didn't see any squirrel." Kakashi pointed out.

"Well maybe the squirrel is just too good for you to notice!" Deciding to cut off the building argument, Minato spoke up.

"Well, everyone meet my younger sister." Minato said, rubbing the back of his head confusedly.

"I'm Hamai Namikaze!" She said happily to the others, not letting go of Kakashi's shirt. Rin, who was already crushing on the boy, was now falling hard for him.

'So cute!' Her brain screamed at the image.

"I thought I told you to stay home?" When Hamai nearly smiled in response, Minato turned to Kakashi.

"She really wanted to come. I figured so long as she was quiet it wouldn't matter." He crossed his arms defensively and looked away.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-Sempai! Big brother please don't get him in trouble!"

"Wait… you graduated with us, didn't you?" Obito asked suddenly. The pinkette smiled at him. Minato decided to let Hamai talk, hoping her presence would help Kakashi open up slightly. He crossed his fingers behind his back.

"Yup!" She pointed proudly to the hitai-ate around her neck. "But I won't get a team until next year, since I graduated early.

"I thought I told you not to wear that around your neck. It looks like a collar, you're not a dog." Kakashi promptly untied her hitai-ate and retied it on her forehead. Rin had to work to hold in her squeal.

"How did _you_ graduate a year early?" Obito asked rudely. The girl was about to answer with a rude remark of her own, but the hitai-ate suddenly slipped from her forehead and landed back around her neck. Rin and Obito laughed as Kakashi started grumbling.

"Here." Rin walked over and tied the hitai-ate as a headband. "It should stay like that." Hamai shook her head a bit, and when it didn't fall gave a smile that greatly resembled her brothers.

"Thanks, Rin! And you never finished saying what your dream was."

"Oh! I want to be the head medical ninja one day." She said with a soft smile. The brunette looked towards Kakashi. "Your turn!"

"Hn. I'm Kakashi Hatake. I like a few things, I don't like a lot of things, and as for my dream… hn." Everyone stared at him for a moment.

'So much for him opening up.' Minato thought, uncrossing his fingers sadly.

"What kind of crap answers are those!" Obito yelled.

"Don't yell at Kakashi-Sempai!"

"Who are you to tell me what to do, you little pip-squeak!"

"Obito… please…"

"I'd watch it, Uchiha, she could beat you bloody in a minute flat."

"Oh, Kakashi! Come on guys…"

"What'd you say Hatake?"

"Are you deaf or just stupid?"

"SHUT UP!" All four kids immediately shut up and turned towards Minato. "Hamai, hide. Don't let _anyone_ catch you!" The pinkette nodded and took off running. "The rest of you: Chase her. Whoever catches her first and brings her back won't go back to the Academy. Of the two left, one of you will pass, while the other is failed." Minato jumped backwards and sat on one of the three poles, his eyes closed.

"Is he serious?" Obito asked.

"Umm, Kakashi, you seem to know Hamai well. Is she good at hide and seek?" Rin asked tentatively.

"Yes. She's completely unpredictable." Without looking at them, the Chunin leapt off towards town, hoping he'd find her first.

"I say we follow him. He'd at least have some idea where she would go." Rin said to her other team mate. They quickly took off after the silver haired boy and Minato smiled.

"Perfect hiding place. I'm surprised Kakashi didn't think of checking." A small squirrel jumped out of the tree. In a puff of smoke Hamai appeared.

"He still underestimates my planning. I'll bet he checks the house first and Hokage's office second." She ran over and sat on the log next to her brother.

"Then it'll be his apartment, and the Academy." The blonde sighed. "Hopefully they'll start working together. I'd hate to fail them. Kakashi needs a team."

"Kakashi-Sempai's good enough without them!"

"Mai-Mai, what have I told you about teamwork?"

"That it's more important than kunai or Jutsu. Oh…" Hamai blew her pink bangs out of her face. "Well I hope they work together then too. I like Rin!"

"I'm counting on you to help Kakashi some, alright?" Hamai looked up at her big brother curiously. "You know he doesn't exactly like people, but maybe if you become friends with them, he'll open up more."

"Rin seems to like him enough." The girl giggled. "Did you see her blush!"

"Why are you guys following me!" Kakashi growled at them. He stopped on top of a building and turned towards his 'team mates'.

"You know Hamai better than us, you must have some sort of lead." Rin explained. "Maybe we could split up to check the places you think she would be?" Obito didn't speak. He had crossed him arms and turned his face away from the others.

"Fine. This is their house. We'll check here, then I'll go search my house, you check the Hokage's office, and you can check the Academy. Meet back here if you don't find anything." He pointed to the others, assigning them duties. Rin smiled and Obito bitterly nodded.

After quickly sweeping through the different buildings and finding nothing, they met back up.

"She wasn't at the Academy." Obito reported.

"Nor with the Hokage. Though he recommended checking back at the training ground when I explained what I was doing." Rin added quietly. Kakashi sighed.

"We would have noticed her if… crap!" The Chunin took off leaping towards the training ground as quickly as he could.

"Where are we going? Did you notice something?" The Uchiha asked.

"It was a Henge!" When the others didn't respond, he elaborated. "She transformed into a squirrel. When she first came out of the tree we started arguing about how I didn't notice the squirrel!"

"They're coming back." Minato said suddenly. Hamai quickly jumped into the nearest tree, transforming back into her disguise. The trio soon landed in front of their Sensei.

"Is she allowed to run?" Kakashi asked abruptly. Minato seemed slightly shocked.

"No. She has to stay put." The three students nodded.

"Good. Spread out!" Kakashi commanded.

"And remember, she said it was black!" Rin added. Minato began laughing loudly. It took only a few minutes before Obito screamed.

"Got her!" He picked up the squirrel and joined his team mates in front of their teacher. Obito placed her down, and she transformed back into a human.

"You oaf, you stepped on my tail!" The pinkette whirled around and punched Obito square in the face.

"Obito!" Rin yelled, worried.

"Nice punch." Kakashi praised her.

"Kakashi!" Minato sighed in exasperation. Obito jumped up, ignoring Rin's help.

"Why you!" He lunged towards Hamai, tackling her to the ground. Kakashi was on him in an instant, pulling him off and flinging him backwards.

"You alright, kiddo?" He pulled her up. Hamai tried to get around Kakashi and lunge toward Obito.

"Minato-Sensei!" Rin cried out helplessly. But the Jounin was already there, holding Obito back while Kakashi held Hamai.

"Hamai, go home!" The girl ignored her brother and continued struggling. "Kakashi take her home. And for God's sake keep her there this time!" The Chunin listened, and started dragging the fighting girl away.

"So… who passed?" Obito asked, calm now.

"You all did." He sighed. "I'll explain tomorrow. Meet here at 7am. Be ready to practice." The two Genin happily took off towards their homes to tell their parents.

The next day Minato met Rin, Obito, and Kakashi at the training ground after making sure Hamai was guarded securely at home by Gamarian.

"Hello!" Minato smiled brightly at his students. This time, Rin and Obito both smiled back. Kakashi merely nodded. "As I told you all yesterday, you passed! However, I want to explain how." He waited until all three were looking at him. "What is the most important thing for a Shinobi squad to have?"

"Lots of kunai?" Obito guessed.

"Powerful Jutsu?" Rin said.

"Both good guesses, but no. It's team work. Without it, even a squad of the best ninja would fail."

"I don't understand, Sensei." Rin said.

"Yesterday, you three worked together to search the village and trees for Hamai," Obito scowled at the mention of her name. "Because you worked together you were able to eliminate the sensible places and come up with her being in the trees. Then, because of working together you were able to find her within minutes." Minato gave them his large smile, the one where his eyes squinted shut. "Because you could work as a team, I passed you!"

"Today, we're going to be learning to walk on water!" Minato exclaimed excitedly. After a month of working on walking up trees between missions, everyone (Obito) had finally learned how to. Minato had switched their meeting place to the bridge so that they could use the calm river underneath it.

"Really?" Obito yelled. Minato nodded happily.

"This is a whole lot harder than just walking up a tree, though. While the bark won't move underneath you, the water will. You'll have to work on setting your chakra so that it's flexible enough to bend with the water." Minato lowered himself off the side of the bridge and onto the water, Kakashi following.

"So cool!" Obito flung himself over the railing and eagerly plunged right into the water. Kakashi sighed and pulled him out, dumping him unceremoniously onto the shore.

"Moron." Kakashi walked back over to where Minato was coaxing Rin off the bridge.

"Don't worry, Kakashi and I are right here, we won't let you go under." He gave her a gentle smile. Rin began lowering herself down slowly, but her hand slipped and she fell fast. Kakashi, who was right below, reflexively caught her.

"Are you afraid of the water?" The Chunin asked. His voice held only a slight hint of curiosity, but it made Rin's heart rush. Not to mention he was still holding her since she couldn't stand on water yet.

"J-just a bit. I don't know how to swim." She admitted.

"Well don't be." He said sharply. "I pulled Obito out, and you're not nearly as annoying as him." Obito, who had made his way back to the center of the bridge, became furious.

"What do you mean 'not nearly'? Rin's not annoying at all!" Kakashi and Rin stared at him for a moment before Kakashi turned back to Rin, ignoring him completely.

"I know what Sensei says doesn't really make any sense at all, so I'm going to tell you what I told Hamai." Rin giggled at Minato's gasp of pretend offense. Obito secretly listened as Kakashi tried to explain what to do to Rin. "When you walk up a tree, you just picture your chakra at your feet, right? You think of it in a solid form, just like the tree. Now you're on water, so you have to imagine your chakra as a liquid, so it flows easily with the water beneath you and keeps you above it." All three of the other's eyes widened. Rin nodded and closed her eyes, focusing intently on her feet. She didn't want to disappoint Kakashi, he was going so far out of his way to help her, she had to succeed! And then she was. Kakashi stepped away from her, but she didn't fall. Rin opened her eyes.

"I did it!" But in her excitement, she lost concentration and began to slip. Obito tried to reach down and grab her, but he ended up falling onto Kakashi who was trying to catch Rin. In the end, all three ended up under water. Minato quickly grabbed Rin so she wasn't under for longer than a second. Kakashi and Obito, however, had to fight each other to the top.

"Idiot!" Kakashi yelled as soon as he broke to the surface. When Obito came up next to him, Kakashi promptly shoved him back under. "Complete moron!" Rin stared amazed, this was more emotion than Kakashi had ever shown the entire month she knew him.

"Umm, Minato-Sensei?" The blonde shook his head.

"Let them get it out of their system. Better now than on a mission." Obito surfaced again and the two began punching each other like crazy. Minato, still holding Rin, jumped back onto the bridge to avoid the water war. "Maybe Obito will even learn to walk on water."

Kakashi tried pulling himself back on top of the water, but Obito pulled him down. In retaliation, his head was used as leverage for Kakashi to get on top. The Uchiha then splashed a ton of water into Kakashi's eyes, momentarily blinding him, and then punching him. Since Obito still had to swim, it was easy for Kakashi to reach down and lift his team mate up by the front of his shirt. As Kakashi pulled his arm back Obito shut his eyes, waiting for the hard blow to his face.

"Kakashi-Sempai!" A high pitched voice screamed loudly. The Chunin looked up to see Hamai sprinting over the water towards him.

"So she can walk on water! Aw, I thought you were lying." Kakashi immediately dropped Obito, turning all his attention to Hamai.

"Kiddo?" Something was running next to her at her feet.

"What is that?" Rin asked.

"It's Gamarian. One of my Summons. He stays with Hamai though." As they got closer, Rin could see that the toad was small and a light blue with dark green triangles covering it's body.

"It's a toad!"

"Sempai! Help!" Hamai ran straight into Kakashi's arms, holding him fiercely. Minato stiffened, seeing something running after her in the distance. Three Academy students, judging by the lack of hitai-ates, had been following after her on the shore.

"Well what do you know, she does know the Hatake after all." The largest boy said snidely. Kakashi wrapped an arm around Hamai and looked down at her.

"What happened?"

"She messed with the wrong kids! And when she couldn't beat us, she ran to you! Like a wimp!" Kakashi's grip tightened.

"Kiddo, what happened?"

"The fat one was picking on this dog, so I told him to knock it off! But then two more of his friends came out and they cornered me… I- I got scared so I told them that if they hit me you'd come after them! But they didn't believe that I knew you! And they… they stole the necklace brother gave me and said they wouldn't give it back until I proved I knew you!" Hamai looked up at Kakashi for a second, forgetting why she had buried her face in the first place. Kakashi's eyes grew wide. There was a huge cut across her forehead, her left eye was bruising, and her lip was swelling.

"Which one hit you?" He voice was low and dangerous.

"Kakashi…" Minato called out, knowing it was pointless.

"I did! What are you gonna do about it?" The large one said proudly. Before any of the bullies could blink Kakashi had them on their backs. He raced towards them, punched the largest in the stomach, then swung around and kicked the skinniest. The tall one got his legs swept out from under him, and then was slammed against the scrawny one, knocking them both to the ground. Kakashi then lifted the fat kid off his feet, glaring into his face. Looking for mercy, the kid quickly handed over the necklace, but that wasn't enough. With a snarl, Kakashi hurled him out into the middle of the river.

Obito and Rin were speechless. Minato just shook his head sadly. Kakashi, once again calm, walked back to Hamai and put the necklace back on her.

"There you go, Kiddo." The ruffled her hair gently. The fat kid resurfaced and stared horrified at Kakashi for a moment before swimming for shore as fast as he could. The silver haired boy made a move to go after them, but Minato jumped in front of him, holding out a warning hand.

"That's enough. You've taught them their lesson."

"Thank you Kakashi-Sempai!" Hamai threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Good job!" Gamarian cheered, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Hamai, don't go getting into fights you can't handle. And don't drag Kakashi into everything." Minato reprimanded. "He's a Chunin now, he has better things to do then get into fights with Academy students. And you're a Genin! You should know better."

"I should have stopped her, sorry Boss." Gamarian said, confirming Rin and Obito's fear that the thing did indeed talk.

"It's alright. Everyone go home, practice is over." Minato turned and began walking home, knowing Hamai and Kakashi would follow. Rin and Obito also turned to leave, but paused as Kakashi began to speak in a low voice, not aware of the eavesdroppers.

"I'll always help you with any fight, even if I'm in ANBU, okay?" Hamai bit her lip. "Kiddo?"

"Don't worry! I'll get stronger! And then I'll be able to protect you!" But her proclamation was followed by a squeal as she slipped under the water.

"You've got to stop doing that." Kakashi reminded her. He swung her out of the water and straight on to his back. "How about when we get to your house, you make me some of that Hot Coco of yours as payment?" Gamarian hopped after the two of them as Kakashi walked them after Minato, not noticing that his soft side had been completely overheard by his team mates.

"So he's not an empty shell after all." Obito said grouchily. "I'm amazed. What about you?" But Rin wasn't paying any attention to Obito, she was busy staring after Kakashi, wondering what it would take to get him to care about her like he did Hamai.

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If you click it, Kakashi will hug you ;)

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	3. Meet Team Six!

AN: Nothing exciting. Just getting into the plot more. And I absolutely adore Iruka:3

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Hamai bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet. Finally, she was getting a team! No matter how much Kakashi trained her, Minato refused to put Hamai into the Academy until she was at least 7, so she would only be a year younger than the rest. However, because of Kakashi's training, Hamai graduated after her second year, and became a Genin at 8. There was only one other Genin without a team, so they had to wait. Finally another student graduated a year early, and now they had their team.

Shikaku Nara was the head of the Shadow users clan. He was a large man, about Minato's age, with a black ponytail and several scars on his face. Hamai was the first to arrive at the clearing Shikaku-Sensei had specified. She only had to wait a few moments before someone else appeared.

"Hi! I'm Hamai Namikaze!" She announced, hopping off the rock she'd been sitting on and holding out her hand. The boy had long black hair and matching eyes. He simply raised his eyebrow, then looked away. The pinkette's temper flared. She reached out, grabbed his arm, and flipped him over her shoulder onto the ground. "I said 'Hi! I'm Hamai Namikaze!' that means you say hi back and then tell me your name." She smiled sweetly at him, holding her hand out again.

"…Itatchi Uchiha." He grabbed her hand, and used it to pull himself up.

"Oh. So you're related to Obito."

"Cousins… how do you know him?" Itatchi's voice held little interest.

"He's on my brother's team." His lack of emotion was really starting to bother her, no wonder no one else ever liked Kakashi.

"Minato Namikaze? You're brother is the Yellow Flash?" Hamai smiled brightly.

"Yup! The one and only!"

"… Impressive."

"Hiya!" A second boy walked into the clearing. This one had brown hair up in a spiky ponytail and matching eyes. "I'm Iruka Umino!" Hamai happily shook his hand.

"I'm Hamai Namikaze, and this is Itatchi Uchiha. Don't expect him to shake your hand though."

"Why not?"

"He's too stuck up." Hamai said, speaking as though Itatchi wasn't right behind her. As if to prove her wrong, Itatchi took a step in front of her, and held out his own hand.

"…Maybe it was just your hand I didn't want to shake." Hamai was about to punch him, but then she noticed the faint smile he was wearing.

"Just keep talking like that and see where it gets you, Pretty Boy."

"Pretty… boy?" Itatchi seemed horrified at the nickname. Iruka simply burst out laughing. "What are you laughing at, Pineapple Head?" Iruka choked off his laughter, and Hamai tried to hold hers in, knowing what was coming.

"Yeah, yeah. Hold it in all you want, but you're still gonna be Pinky!"

"It'll turn red once I'm older!" Unknown to them, Shikaku Nara had been hiding in the trees since before Hamai had even arrived. He decided now would be a good time to make his presence known.

"Hello." He said deeply, without revealing his location. The three students quickly formed a triangle while pulling out their kunai.

"Who's there?" Iruka called out. "Show yourself!" Shikaku had a team of protégés, and he intended to test them fully before passing them. The kids scooted closer together.

"My brother said all Jounin test their squad before accepting them… this might be a test." Hamai whispered to the others, not letting her guard down.

"…Or it could be an attack." Itatchi added, just as quiet.

"Heh, no matter what we can't let our guard down!" The three gripped their weapons tighter. Itatchi activated his Sharingan.

"Whoever it is, there's only one, and he's above us and at 3 O'clock from my position."

"How do you know?" Iruka asked.

"My Sharingan… I'll explain later, just trust me." The other two nodded. "Now what?"

"We should make clones, and hide. Quick." Iruka suggested. All three quickly used a Substitution Jutsu, and sat waiting in a branch.

"What's he doing now?" Hamai asked, looking with interest at Itatchi's now red eyes.

"Still sitting… wait. I think he's noticed. Move!" Kunai hit their substitutions, turning them into logs, as well the nailing the branch they had just sat on.

"We should set a trap!" Iruka suggested. "That way we can figure out who we're dealing with."

"What kind of trap?" Hamai had only briefly read about them at the Academy, and had never set one up, even on her missions with Minato over the past year.

"The best kind." Iruka pulled out several wires with exploding tags attached, grinning madly.

A few minutes later, they were sitting on a branch in what they hoped was a good enough hiding place. Itatchi was scanning the area with his eyes.

"…He's coming!" He whispered suddenly. A large form came into view, and stopped short of running into one of their wires.

"And they're supposed to be geniuses." He scoffed.

"So it is our Sensei." Iruka pointed out. Shikaku easily avoided all the wires, pushing forward until he was almost at their hiding spot. "Now!" Itatchi jumped out and looked Shikaku in the eyes, effectively trapping him in a weak Genjutsu. Knowing they had only seconds before Itatchi's Jutsu would break, Hamai and Iruka threw kunai, cutting all the wires on the side lose. Iruka then pulled on another string, bringing all of the wires to wrap around their new Sensei, effectively holding him captive as the Genjutsu wore off.

"I must say, I'm impressed… for a bunch of kids."

"Wait! It's a clone!" Itatchi warned, turning around sharply. "The real one is behind…" He didn't have time to finish his sentence, for Iruka flew at him as he was turning around and knocked him off the branch, dragging Hamai behind.

"He even slipped past the sensory wires we set up!" Hamai grumbled. The three grabbed onto branches and tried swinging away. "Ahh!" The boys looked back to see Hamai frozen in a crouch.

"What are you doing?" Iruka asked.

"I can't move!" She suddenly stood up, and placed her hands on top of her head, waving her fingers. Before Itatchi and Iruka could think of what to do, the same Jutsu had been cast on them.

"Games up. I caught you kids. And it only took 15 minutes. Not very impressive." Suddenly, all three smirked.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Sensei. But you're wrong." The image then dissolved, and Shikaku realized he was sitting on a branch, completely tied up with think rope.

"What…? When did you get me?"

"Right after your Shadow Clone disappeared." Itatchi explained, his eyes were now back to the normal charcoal color. It was quickly becoming clear to the other Itatchi only spoke when needed.

"So, do we pass?"

"Big Brother! Kakashi-Sempai! Rin!" Hamai came racing into the training ground Team 7 was practicing at. Ignoring the fact that her brother was in the middle of a lecture, she jumped up and hugged him tightly. "We passed!"

"Congrats! We'll go out to eat tonight to celebrate! But Mai-Mai… I'm kind of in the middle of…"

"You're on a team now? That's great!" Rin interrupted. She hugged Hamai as she let go of her brother.

"Thanks! We're Team 3!"

"Who's your team?" Kakashi asked.

"Shikaku Nara is my Sensei! And then it's Iruka Umino and Itatchi Uchiha!"

"Itatchi? Isn't he a Chunin though?" Minato asked.

"Well yeah, but so is Kakashi-Sempai!" Minato nodded, as though he'd forgotten.

"Good job, Kiddo!" Kakashi ruffled her hair, his eyes creasing in a smile. "I've heard Shikaku refused to even consider taking a team that wasn't made of geniuses."

"Well then it's lucky Big Brother got you before he did!" Hamai smiled up at her brother. "Can you Summon Gamarian?" Rin and Obito turned to stare at their Sensei.

"Please, Sensei! I want to see!" Rin asked excitedly. Minato sighed and bit his thumb, did a few hand signs, and then slammed it into the ground in an overly dramatic way.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

"Yo, Boss." Gamarian waved and then turned towards Hamai. "How'd it go?"

"I passed! Come on!" Hamai took off running, Gamarian right behind her.

"Can Hamai not summon him herself?" Obito asked.

"She hasn't signed the contract with the Toads. She refuses to and insists she'll have a different Summons then me. Now… back to practice!"

"Pineapple Head to Pretty Boy, I'm ready."

"Pinky to Pretty Boy, I'm ready too."

"Poppa Grizzly, this is Pretty Boy. We're set." Shikaku sighed. His team was insane, he was certain of it now. He thought those nicknames when they first met would be used as insults, not code names. "Poppa Grizzly?"

"Alright, move out." Even though all four were connected, they insisted that Itatchi, as Chunin, be the one to communicate with him.

"Pinky calling! I've spotted Poufy!"

"…!" Itatchi didn't responded, but Iruka understood his message: move in. It didn't take long for Iruka and Hamai to begin understand Itatchi's silent language. "Poppa Grizzly, Poufy has been spotted." Shikaku grunted in response. And he thought Itatchi would be boring and refuse to get along with the others, yet here he was, leading the crazy brigade.

"Pinky here, I've lost sight of it!"

"Pineapple Head, …?"

"I've got it! I've got Poufy!" Iruka grabbed the cat up easily. "Mission accomplished!"

"Poppa Grizzly, Poufy has been recaptured… again." It has to be because they're geniuses. That's what Shikaku decided. They're so smart, and these menial missions are so easy, they have to be crazy to avoid dying of boredom. Once they were on a normal mission they would act sane… hopefully.

"Transform!" Shikaku turned around and dropped his apple.

"What… what are you doing?" There were now three dogs holding the ends of leashes in their mouths, and two of each Iruka, Hamai, and Itatchi with collars around their necks.

"We Henged into the dogs, and changed them into us!" Hamai exclaimed gleefully.

"Change back. Now!" Shikaku demanded. They immediately listened.

"What's wrong, Sensei?" Shikaku shook his head.

"Nothing… just… continue on."

"I am so sick of these stupid missions!" Iruka yelled in frustration. He threw the weed he was holding as far away from him as he could. "I want to go and actually do something! There's a war going on, why aren't we helping?" Itatchi threw his weed bag at Iruka's head.

"Will you shut up already. Sensei's explained it six times."

"We are helping out, by continuing to do the D missions here, we're bringing in the money needed for supplies for the squads out there." Hamai explained.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"So then quit asking!" Hamai yelled at Iruka.

"But don't you want to do better missions! I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting really sick of catching that poor cat, walking tons of dogs, and picking stupid weeds!"

"…That cat does seem desperate to get away." Itatchi mused.

"I feel so bad for it, maybe next time we should help it escape, it's really not too much money."

"Is that all you got out of my speech?" Iruka asked sadly.

"I actually heard a rumor that different ANBU members are told to sneak in and help the cat escape if it doesn't do it often enough. She always pays the amount for a D plus a tip, no matter how often it happens." Itatchi continued on, ignoring Iruka.

"You're kidding? That's slightly awful, but makes a lot of sense." Hamai smiled at Itatchi. They could feel Iruka's growing temper next to them.

"..." Itatchi responded with a nod.

"IT WASN'T FUNNY THE LAST THREE TIMES AND IT ISN'T FUNNY NOW!" Iruka yelled at them. Sure, Iruka's temper was terrifying, but it was worth the fear to rile him up, and there was even a lesson in it this time.

"Yes, something being repeated over and over again isn't very amusing, is it?" Itatchi sighed as Iruka caught on to what Hamai was saying.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." He pouted and went back to his work, picking weeds in silence. Neither of his team mates felt bad though, they knew he would be talking again in a minute.

"…!" All three quickly did a Jutsu and waited.

"Do I even want to know…?" He asked.

"I'm being a scarecrow, to scare away the crows!" Hamai asked before going back to her motionless state.

"We're the crows, showing that this scarecrow isn't scary, so the other crows should come join us, and then they can help us pick the weeds." Iruka explained, as though this was completely sane.

"I need to talk to the Hokage. Now." They waited until their Sensei was out of sight before changing back.

"YES!"

"As a team, you have completed a total of 13 D rank missions in the past two weeks. I believe, especially with the experience Itatchi has, that you are ready for a C rank." The Hokage informed them. Iruka fought hard to hold in his cheers. "You will travel to the Land of Tea and pick up a package. Bring it back, and drop it off in the missions room." Shikaku smiled, hopefully his team would act normal now.

"Hey Minato, Kakashi-Sempai!" Hamai raced through the door and straight to her room. The two sitting at the table looked up in surprise.

"Mai-Mai?" Minato said curiously.

"Min-Min!" Hamai called back.

"Min-Min?" Kakashi and Minato shared a surprised look. "You alright Kiddo?"

"I've got my first C rank mission in the morning!" She exclaimed, running into the kitchen excitedly. "I've got to pack!"

"It's only been two weeks since you've formed a team? How is that happening?" Minato asked.

"Well, Itatchi, Iruka, and I may or may not have been purposefully driving Shikaku-Sensei crazy so that he may or may not go request a higher mission for us."

"You managed to drive him crazy? What'd you do?" Minato chuckled.

"Acted like morons basically. We've been calling each other crazy code names, and taking forever to do the simplest things, and purposefully overanalyzing every mission and doing it in the most complicated way possible." Kakashi burst out laughing.

"Shikaku Nara actually fell for that?"

"Itatchi said it would make him think we're acting crazy because it's too easy for us, so he'd request harder missions for us. But none of us thought it would work this quickly!"

"Wait, you're serious? You tricked one of the smartest men in the village into getting you a higher ranked mission? Are you sure you're ready for it?"

"Brother! Of course we're ready! Itatchi's a Chunin already! And Iruka's the smartest Genin there is! Plus we'll have Shikaku-Sensei with us!"

"Not to mention they'll have you." Minato pointed out. The rushed packing sound coming from Hamai's room paused.

"Yeah…" Kakashi stood up and walked to her doorway. He leaned against the frame, watching her pack.

"What's up?" He said suddenly, causing her to jump.

"Oh, Kakashi-Sempai! What do you mean?"

"Come on, we both know something's wrong. What is it? Are Itatchi and Iruka assholes?" the pinkette laughed.

"What? I love my team! We get along great! A whole lot better than yours." She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"This is true. If only Obito wasn't such a loser." Kakashi sighed. "And if Rin wasn't so… weird."

"Weird? It's called having a crush, Sempai." Kakashi gave her an odd look.

"You… don't have any crushes right?" Hamai began laughing loudly.

"Not yet, I haven't really met many guys my age." She returned to packing, hoping he had forgotten…

"So, what's wrong?" Crap.

"I don't get why I was put on the team with Itatchi and Iruka. I mean, it's obvious why they're with Shikaku-Sensei. Itatchi's almost as smart and as good as you! And he's even three years younger. Iruka passed through the Academy in one year, and he's a master at traps and strategizes. I don't really see what I'm good at."

"You're a fast thinker, you're a natural at learning, you have great chakra control, and you mastered things at the age of four not even I could think of learning until I was eight. How many pre-Academy students do you know that could do a clone? Henge? Walk on water? Do fire style Jutsus? You're the only one I know of." Hamai gave Kakashi her large grin.

"Thanks Kakashi-Sempai! You always make me feel better!" She went back to her packing with even more excitement then before.

"Good luck tomorrow, don't make me have to come save you." Kakashi ruffled her hair before turning and going back to his tea.

"What was wrong?"

"She was nervous about the mission tomorrow." Kakashi lied. Minato smiled into his cup. Of course he had listened in on the whole conversation, but it was good to know Kakashi would keep his sisters secrets. "You were listening, weren't you?" The blonde nearly choked on his tea.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" The Jounin wiped the tea off of his face. His student merely shook his head.

"I figured as much." He stood up. "Thanks for the tea, Minato-Sensei. I'll see you tomorrow for training. Don't be late."

"I'm the one who's supposed to remind you to not be late!"

"Yes, but I'm the one who's more likely to be on time. At least you're never as bad as Obito." Kakashi scowled at the wall. "Bye, Sensei."

"Bye, Kakashi."

"Bye, Sempai!" Hamai called out loudly.

"Bye, Kiddo!" Kakashi nodded to his teacher one last time before closing the door behind him.


	4. The Land of Tea

Hello there! Yes, long time no see. My bad :/ I got super distracted with life. But good news, Hamai was accepted as an OC in the wonderful BatDarling's story Broken Youth! (I gave her the name of this story, since that was the only thing keeping her from starting it, and I wanted it right away!) Anywho... she's written such beautiful characters that it inspired me to keep going! So tada!

* * *

Hamai was up bright and early the next morning. She double and triple checked everything she had packed before getting up and pacing. Eventually, she grew tired of waiting around and went downstairs to cook breakfast.

Minato woke up an hour later, shocked to see her sitting at the table, an empty plate in front of her.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Since five." She answered. "I couldn't sleep… too excited." Minato sighed and rubbed his sister's hair. She looked exhausted, but it was obvious she was too excited to sleep.

"Just don't fall asleep on the mission. You worked too hard to get it!" He reminded her.

"Oh, I won't!" Hamai jumped up excitedly, going to check her pack one more time. "There's extra in the pan!" She yelled back to Minato, who was already filling a plate up with the eggs she had made.

"Don't forget that kunai I gave you! It'll bring you luck." He chuckled, realizing there were enough eggs left for at least two more people to eat. "Did you make enough?"

"I kept forgetting how many eggs I put in, so I just kept adding them until I knew for sure I had enough." She ran back out into the main room. "Well… I should get going. We're meeting at the main gate." Hamai shuffled her feet. Minato held out his arms and she ran to hug him.

"You'll do great, the Hokage knows what he's doing when he places people on teams."

"You were listening in?"

"Why would you jump straight to that? Kakashi could have…"

"Kakashi wouldn't tell. He never has before."

"Before…?" Minato questioned. Hamai's eyes widened and she reached up to kiss her brother's cheek.

"Bye! See you in a few days!" She picked up her bag and opened her door. "Say bye to Kakashi to me!" Minato lifted his hand, trying to ignore his bad feeling.

* * *

When Hamai raced up to the gate, she realized she wasn't as early as she feared. Shikaku Sensei and Itatchi were both there, waiting on her.

"Hi!" She slowed down and greeted her team. Itatchi nodded back, though he had a smile on his face, showing he was just as excited.

"You've been on C-Rank missions before, right?" She asked. Itatchi nodded again.

"Though they were simple and with only another Jonin." Hamai couldn't keep the smile off her face. "This should be much more enjoyable."

"Hamai." She turned around, surprised to see Kakashi walking toward her.

"Kakashi-Sempai!" She ran toward him, dropping her bag and throwing her arms around his waist. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just on my way to practice." He shrugged. Hamai nodded, believing him. Itatchi, however, knew that there was no way Kakashi could have NOT gone out of his way to get here, no matter where his house way. He smirked, wondering how his teammate was so clueless about some things.

"I'm here!" Iruka yelled. "I'm not late, right?" Hamai pulled back from Kakashi and held up her hand. Iruka quickly high-fived it.

"Right on time!"

"Are we ready, Sensei?" Itatchi asked with more excitement in his voice than usual, but still less than his teammates'.

"Good luck, kiddo." Kakashi held out his hand in a fist. Hamai looked at it curiously. "It's for you." She cupped her hands and he dropped a small bracelet into them.

Looking closer, Hamai saw that it was a simple leather rope bracelet that slips on. It had three little charms on it: one was a tiny three-pronged kunai that had script writing on it she couldn't read, the second was a silver triangle, the third the miniature, silver scarecrow. She slid it on excitedly.

"The kunai is like Minato's… and the triangle reminded me of Gamarian's markings." Kakashi explained, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"I love it! The scarecrow, too." She smiled up at him. Shikaku cleared his throat. When Hamai didn't move, Kakashi pushed her back slightly.

"Be safe." She nodded, running to leave with her team.

* * *

After three hours of walking, the kids were starting to grow bored. Shikaku knew this would happen, he even accurately guessed how long it would, what he wasn't prepared for was how his students would handle it.

"Gai Might!" Hamai declared. Iruka did as he had been for the past twenty names, and henged. His portrayals of people were so accurate, even Shikaku would have troubles discovering the true person were they standing next to each other. Iruka stuck the ridiculous pose Gai always had, the one where he sticks his hips out abnormally far, gives a smile so big his teeth glisten, and holds out his thumb proudly. "Perfect!"

"What about Minato?" Itatchi asked. Hamai smiled brightly.

"Yea, let's see how close you are!" Iruka obediently henged into the Yellow Flash. He gave Minato's large grin, crossing his arms and squinting his eyes. "Very close. But if he crosses his arms he's being serious."

"I'm not sure I know how to make a serious Minato face. I've never seen him have one." Iruka blanked his expression, which was closer, but still not quite right. Hamai critiqued him, getting it so he had her brother's fighting face down perfectly.

"That's rather impressive." Shikaku complimented, it was the first comment he'd given about their game. "While this is all for fun, I suggest you remember the tips Hamai gave you. It might come in handy one day." Iruka changed back into himself.

"How so?" Itatchi questioned.

"The Yellow Flash is feared throughout the lands by all who aren't his ally. Most countries even have a Flee-On-Sight rule regarding him."

"No way!" Hamai jumped up and down excitedly. "He never told me that!"

"He's much too modest. Though that is a good quality for a Hokage to possess."

"He's going to be Hokage one day, I know it! It's been his dream since forever, and he's so good and well known! Everyone loves him. That's all it takes, right?" Hamai asked. "Being the best and being loved?"

"Well, that's not all. Though, those are important." Their Sensei answered. "He must also be a leader, able to make decisions that might not be popular, but are for the good of the people. He must always put the village first, be able to make tough decisions quickly. Above all, he must be willing to sacrifice himself." At Shikaku's words the group turned silent. Hamai frowned at the ground.

"He has all those."

"You are correct." His words made Iruka cheer.

"Hamai, your brother might actually become Hokage, why are you sad?"

"Because… he _would_ be willing to make sacrifices. He would put the village before everything, even himself… what if something happens and it's him or the village? I would rather lose the village!" Hamai announced, quickly covering her mouth after her words.

"That's a bold statement to make." Itatchi said quietly.

"I… I didn't mean it." Hamai amended. "It's just…"

"Being in charge is a hard job." Shikaku stated, being the head of the Nara clan, he knew that all too well. "But loving someone who is in charge is even harder. Often, they make just as many sacrifices, if not more." He didn't speak any more after that, leaving his students with silence to think about his words.

It took five days total, two of which were spent on a boat, to get to their destination in the Land of Tea. Nothing of excitement happened, and Team Three was itching for some action.

"Please Shikaku Sensei, let us run back! I don't think I can stand spending another two days on a boat!" Hamai begged.

"Sensei, we're begging you! I'm so bored I'm about to pick a fight with Itatchi!" Hearing his name, Itatchi glanced up at Iruka. He smirked.

"That would be an awful idea. However, I would kill for a fight right now." Iruka let out a squeak and ran to the other side of the path, putting Hamai between him and Itatchi. Shikaku walked behind them, easily blocking out their banter. He agreed this trip had been rather dull, but that was just the way he liked it. He glanced worriedly over his students bickering forms. Word was starting to spread about The Yellow Flash being a candidate for Yondaime Hokage. If Hamai's name got out she could easily be in danger, would his students be able to handle it if someone attacked?

"We are staying in this hotel for the night." Shikaku announced. The three teens, who were ready for action, whined about settling down.

"Can't we just go get the package now? I want to get home and back to training!" Iruka whined. Shikaku resisted the urge to lash out at him.

"We aren't expected until the morning. You three may go out and spar if you'd like. Just be careful, we're no longer in the Land of Fire."

"Thank you, Sensei!" Iruka and Hamai cheered. Itatchi stayed quiet, but joined them in heading for the forest just as quickly as they could drop their bags off in their rooms.

They went to just outside of town, where there was some covering from the trees, but the fishing village was still in view. The trio decided to set up targets and obstacles before actually sparring with each other. The whole trip there had been spent either walking, eating, or sleeping. Shikaku had taken the time to explain the proper way to jump from tree to tree, which made traveling much faster, but as they had never done it before it ended up being slower than just walking.

Itatchi used kunai to carve targets into the trees. Itatchi, being the most advanced, took the role of leader and set up targets around corners, training his teammates how to hit a kunai with another and angle it properly to hit a target around a corner. He demonstrated, jumping in the air and throwing out six kunai in two groups, three kunai hitting the other three, causing them to angle and hit the dead center of targets that weren't visible to him.

Hamai and Iruka both practiced for several hours, listening very well to every bit of advice Itatchi handed out. Iruka had a natural talent and picked the skill up much better than Hamai. He got to the point he was hitting two out of three targets, though not in the center. Hamai only managed to hit a target once, and it was with a kunai she meant to hit another target, four trees away.

"I'm never getting this!" She flopped down on her back, one arm covering her eyes. Itatchi and Iruka exchanged a look before standing over her.

"You've only been practicing for one day, Pink." Iruka tried to cheer her up. "You could walk on water and perform jutsu way before either of us could!"

"That's different!"

"Why? Because Kakashi was teaching you instead of me?" Itatchi asked. Hamai uncovered her eyes.

"That's not what I meant. I don't know why I got that, I'm no good. I can't do anything." The boys sighed.

"I don't think I heard you right. Did Hamai Namikaze, the sister of the great Yellow Flash of Konoha, student of the grand Shikaku Nara, and favorite of The White Fang's son just say she couldn't do something?" Iruka held his hands out, giving his speech dramatic flair. Itatchi smirked.

"I believe you're forgetting something, she's also got the legendary Itatchi Uchiha on her team."

"And Iruka!" Iruka added.

"You're forgetting I also know Jiriaya Sensei." Hamai mumbled, a smile visible beneath her arm. Iruka threw his arms in the air.

"Exactly! You have ties to every single impressive person in Konoha!" Iruka brought his arms down and thought for a moment. "And since I have ties to you, that means I do as well!" Itatchi just shook his head. Hamai sat up, crossing her legs and leaving her hands in her lap.

"Do you guys… I mean…" Hamai trailed off. Itatchi leaned down in front of her.

"Shikaku Sensei isn't the most sensitive man. If he didn't believe you were fit to work on his team he would have sent you back to the Academy in a heartbeat." As if understanding exactly what was troubling her, he smiled. "No one is going to treat you special just because of who you know. That's not how we work in the Hidden Leaf." Hamai finally brought her head up. She was wearing a huge smile.

"Thank you!" She lunged over and hugged Itatchi tightly, surprising him.

"Oh, um… er…" Hamai released him. "You're welcome." He stood back up and went to retrieve the kunai they left lying around. Iruka helped her to her feet and they also went to pick up the kunai.

Itatchi stood up suddenly, gripping the kunai he was holding tightly. Iruka turned to ask what was wrong when a shadow appeared between two trees. The trio quickly jumped together, forming a triangle back-to-back.

"Namikaze, huh? You sound like you have some powerful connections." They all tensed at his words.

"What do you want with her?" Iruka boldly asked.

"Well, we weren't planning on anything so grand as her for a hostage, but if she's here…" The shadow grinned.

"Hostage?" Iruka questioned. Itatchi activated his Sharingan, glancing around. Hamai felt his breath hitch.

"There are four of them." He whispered. The shadow man's grin grew even larger.

"You can tell? Eh, looks like you've got some pretty eyes, boy." The trio stepped closer together. "Come out boys, they know about you." Three other shadows emerged from between the trees. Hamai felt her heart race. The men slowly stepped into the light and revealed their Mist hitai-ates.

"You sure are a long ways from the Leaf… just a few little Genin, who else would they send for such a ridiculously simple job." The second Mist Nin said, the others laughing.

"What do you mean?" Hamai questioned. "What do you know about our mission?"

"I know that your 'mission'" The first teased. "is just a set up. We paid a villager here to request Konoha delivers a package for them, nothing much, just a few items of clothing."

"The Hidden Leaf is so predictable."

"Sending simple Genin, and such an influential one as well."

"If we hold her long enough, we might be able to bargain with the new Hokage directly."

"No!" Hamai yelled before she could stop herself. The enemy nin laughed.

"Yes." And with that word the Mist Ninja attacked. With four experienced Ninja against three inexperienced, there weren't many options.

"Scatter!" Was Itatchi's first order. The other two obeyed without question. They had argued before, only partially serious, about how the leader was, each believing it to be themselves. However, in the heat of the moment it was obvious Itatchi was the only choice. They regrouped a few feet away in a large tree.

"We can't stay up here. They'll be faster, we have to get on ground."

"Water Style: Hiding in Mist Technique." Itatchi cussed.

"What just happened?" Iruka asked.

"A concealment jutsu." Hamai answered. "But, we're okay, right, Itatchi?"

"No. The mist is infused with the enemy's chakra; I have less visibility than you." Hamai and Iruka cussed as well.

"What do we do?" Hamai asked worriedly. "Shikaku Sensei probably won't miss us for a few hours yet."

"We can do this." Iruka said with surprising confidence. "Somehow." Itatchi knew his teammates were relying on him, even if they didn't say it out loud. He wracked his brain, knowing there must be something he could do…

* * *

Hamai ran as fast as she could toward the village. She, Iruka, and Itatchi had split up, just as Itatchi planned. Itatchi was a genius, but he was still young. Hamai let out a cuss slip out as she slipped and crashed to the ground.

There was a deep laugh, not the kind that would force you to smile from the joy it gave, but the kind that sent shivers up your spin and made your blood run cold with fear. Hamai slowly got up to her knees, pulling out a kunai with a paper bomb on it as three of the Mist Nin stepped out of the mist closed in on her.

So Itatchi had managed to distract one of the nins… she couldn't have expected too much.

"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you!" Hamai shouted, trying to force some bravado into her voice. They simply laughed at her, but Hamai threw her kunai at one of them.

It missed, getting stuck in the tree behind him.

"Very impressive." He mocked. "The bomb didn't even go off. You must have made it wrong." They were shocked when Hamai smirked.

"That wasn't a paper bomb." She pulled out another kunai to defend herself. "That kunai is a special one given to me by Konoha's Yellow Flash. It has a jutsu on it that lets him know I need him… he'll be here shortly." The nin took a step back, trying to decide if she was bluffing for not.

"It's not true. He can't flicker this far." The leader stated, though his voice was uncertain. Hamai only smirked, challenging the men. True he couldn't _Flicker_ that far, but the Yellow Flash had an even greater jutsu up his sleeve than most realized.

She focused on what Kakashi had taught her, only a year ago, in the woods by her house.

_ "Sometimes you'll be drastically outnumbered and out-skilled. Your only option would be to hold off your attack long enough for me… or other back up… to arrive." _

Hamai threw a few kunai out, threads attached to each of them, just as the enemy charged. She jumped up quickly, grabbing on to the thread above her. She used it to swing to another rope, dodging the first few attacks easily. _"Don't try attacking." He reprimanded, as she was once again pinned underneath him. "Offensive attacks leave your defense down."_

Bypassing a perfect opportunity to strike, Hamai thanked Kakashi silently as she quickly flipped off her rope to the ground, landing outside the enemy's circle. Seeing the shadow, Hamai smirked, holding herself up straight. Itatchi had emphasized how crucial her confidence was here.

"Hamai, are you alright?" Minato Namikaze stepped out of the shadows, frowning at the nin between him and his sister. The Mist Nin jumped away, increasing the thickness of their fog. "As if that could stop me." Minato chided.

"Brother!" Hamai ran toward him, stopping herself from tackling him. "Thank you for coming!"

"Of course." Minato smiled, rubbing Hamai's hair affectionately. "Let's find your Sensei and go."

"Hold it!" The fourth Mist, who had been fighting Itatchi, dropped into the fight. His breathing was labored and there was blood pouring out of a wound on his shoulder. He was clearly fighting to stay conscious. "That… it's one of the brats!" He pointed at Minato. The blonde pushed Hamai behind him for protection.

"What did you do with Itatchi?" He asked gruffly. Said boy flew into their vision moments later. He quickly slashed out with a shuriken, burying it in the man's wound. He let out a cry, falling over into a shaking mess on the floor.

"Run." Itatchi was also breathing hard, his hair had fallen out of the ponytail, though he had much less blood on him. Minato henged back into the Iruka, the two following their leader. Hamai couldn't help the small sob that came out.

"Get them!" The Mist leader cried. The remaining three ninja were after them, and Iruka's henge had been their only hope.

"We need to get out of this mist, we might stand a chance!" Itatchi yelled to them.

"As long as we're close, you'll never escape." One of the other Mist Nin stated cruelly. It was obvious he was taking pleasure in the kids' struggle. They ran for a little longer, pushing themselves as fast as they could while still being able to dodge the trees and roots around them.

"Shit!" Itatchi suddenly stopped running, holding out his arms to steady himself. The others stopped, staring in despair at the wall in front of them. They had made it to the village, but they were very far from the entrance.

"Can't you use a Genjutsu?" Hamai whispered.

"I wish, they're being too careful, keeping their gaze away from mine." Itatchi spat out. "I would need a few seconds to set a Genjutsu, at least one that would be strong enough to hold all of them, anything else would be useless."

"We have to fight." Iruka said slowly, pulling out a kunai. Itatchi nodded, him and Hamai copying the brunette's action. The Mist laughed, knowing just as well as they did that this would be a quick fight without help. Hamai looked down at the special three-pronged kunai that Minato had given her as a gift; it was one of the only kunai she had left.

Itatchi led the charge, hoping that they could shock the Mist Nin, giving them an advantage. Each went for their own ninja, Itatchi swiping and kicking with incredible speed, his Sharingan active in the hopes of catching a glimpse of his enemy's eyes. Iruka was flinging chakra thread around, trying to trap his enemy, or at least restrict his movements.

Hamai was still listening to Kakashi, trying to focus more on her defense than anything. She blocked every swipe of his kunai with hers, taking none of the openings to attack him back. She would wait until the opportune moment…

"Ahh!" She let out a cry, looking down at the kunai now embedded in her side.

"Hamai!" Iruka shouted, his distraction allowing his to get smacked over the head with the Nin's beefy arm. Iruka went down, knocked out completely. His opponent raised his arm, holding up a kunai. Without thinking, Hamai threw her own weapon, aiming for the man's arm. Her kunai hit, striking right in the soft flesh of the inside of his elbow. The man dropped his kunai, backing away from Iruka, who was safe for now.

Though Hamai's own enemy use her distraction against her, now easily cutting her shoulder open as she didn't have a weapon to block it with. He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her up off the ground.

"You brats made this way too hard. You better get us a grand reward." Itatchi was still fighting, trying to get closer to her, though he was worn down from his last fight, and this Nin wasn't letting him get past.

"Iruka, Hamai!" Itatchi shouted, more emotion showing in his voice than she'd ever heard. Another kunai lodged itself into Itatchi's body, this one in his leg. "I'm sorry." Hamai felt the first tears come to her eyes.

"Itatchi…" There was a sudden surge of chakra filling the air. The wind blew, clearing the mist slightly. A loud cry was heard as the third Mist Nin dropped to the ground, a kunai buried deep in his back, piercing through to his heart. By the time everyone turned to notice this, the second Mist nin, fighting Itatchi, was also dropped quickly. The last Mist Nin held Hamai tight and slowly backed up. Appearing in front of him was none other than…

"Minato!" The look on his face was fierce, like nothing Hamai had seen from her brother before. His eyes were cold as he glared at the only remaining Mist Nin.

"If you drop her, I'll allow you to leave with your life. You have three seconds." The Mist Nin tightened his grip, using his other arm to bring a kunai out. Hamai shut her eyes tightly as Minato vanished in front of them. She felt the blood fly out of her captor's mouth as he fell to his knees. She quickly crawled away from him, looking up to see Minato, who stood calmly behind him, in shock.

Itatchi was at her side in a second, he was saying something to her, but everything sounded foggy and her vision was going in and out. She barely noticed the expression change on her brother's face from fierce to worried. He quickly kneeled in front of her. Her name was being called, she faintly heard it. Hamai struggled to keep her eyes open, looking to her right she saw Iruka still lying there, looking back to Minato she realized he was the real one. She gave a faint smile, knowing her teammates were safe, before closing her eyes and allowing the darkness to consume her.

"Hamai!"

* * *

There ya go! The incredibly late next chapter. I've already got the next one started, and I'm on fall break for two more days. So hopefully it'll be out before Monday... though I'm staying with my boyfriend's family and I feel like they're going to keep me kinda busy. Eh, I'll stay up late writing if I need to! As my apology for ignoring this for so long.

BTW, isn't Kakashi so freaking adorable? I just love him to pieces. And Itatchi, and Iruka, and Minato... :D

Skye~


	5. To The Hospital

So... this isn't Sunday... or even Monday. Whoops. I underestimated my need for sleep. Sorry guys, and it's not even that long. It does have several cute moments though, at least I think so. Tell me what you think!

* * *

Hamai woke up suddenly, her last memories being of her friends in grave danger. She sat up suddenly, feeling a sharp pang in her side. Gentle hands pressed down on her shoulders, lowering her into the bed. Kushina was sitting beside her, smiling gently down at her.

"Do you remember what happened?" Hamai closed her eyes. She remember Iruka being knocked out… Itatchi was stabbed in the leg… she was being held by the Nin… and then everyone dropped. Her eyes flew open.

"Minato! He saved us!" The red head nodded. "But how?"

"He felt you use your kunai and immediately contacted Shikaku by Toad. When he said that the three of you were out training, he grew worried. He assumed you'd never use your lucky kunai for simple training."

"He was right." Hamai nodded. "But how did that…?" Kushina cut her off, holding out the mentioned kunai.

"The script around it is the seal Minato uses to summon himself. When you threw it, he could tell. So he used his Flying Thunder God Technique to come to you." Hamai's face scrunched up.

"He said he wasn't going to do that! I thought it was just a regular kunai." She pouted slightly, before realizing that her brother's worry was the only reason she and her team mates were alive. "Itatchi! Iruka! Are they okay?" Kushina nodded.

"Iruka was healed up last night but they kept him overnight just to be safe. He's resting." Hamai snorted, Iruka didn't know how to rest. "Itatchi is still unconscious, he used too much of his chakra." At Hamai's expression she quickly added "But he's fine!"

"Good." Hamai nodded, slowly pushing herself into a sitting position with Kushina's help. Hamai wanted to see her teammates, make sure for herself that they were fine, but right then all she wanted was her brother.

"Minato said that he would be stopping by as soon as Team 7 got back from their mission. He left to come find you." Her words made Hamai feel guilty. "Kakashi handled the team until he got back; they finished the mission early and are headed home. They were all worried about you."

"I didn't mean to call him… he shouldn't have left his team!"

"Kakashi led them just fine, it was a simple C-Rank." Kushina comforted her. "He didn't want to return to his team, he was practically glued to your side." She giggled.

"I'm surprised you managed to get him to leave." Hamai said truthfully. Her brother could be so stubborn sometimes.

"I reminded him that Kakashi would want to see you too."

"Damn right, I do." Kakashi opened the door and walked in casually. It would seem as though he took his sweet time in getting there except for the way he was slightly out of breath.

"I need to… talk to Minato." Kushina said, getting up and leaving the room. Kakashi sat down on the edge of Hamai's bed.

"Sensei told us what happened." Kakashi was staring her in the eyes, refusing to look away. "I'm sorry."

"What for? You didn't…"

"I should have been there. I told you I'd always be there to save you but I wasn't." Hamai tried to sit up, but her side caused her to stay lying down.

"We were all the way in the Land of Tea, Minato's the only one I know who would be able to get there." Kakashi slammed his fist against the bed.

"I should have been able to." Hamai let out her laugh.

"I'm the only one who should be able to. It's a Kekkei Genkai, Sempai." Kakashi looked up, confused. "He hasn't told you? Namikaze's are known for their Space and Time Manipulation jutsu." Kakashi glared at the wall.

"So I can't learn it. The Body Flicker?"

"That one is a regular jutsu, I bet you'll learn it soon." Kakashi leaned over to ruffle Hamai's hair just as the rest of his team burst in the door. He quickly pulled his hand back, fixing his expression to the blank one he held around others.

"Hamai!" Rin ran over to the girl. She began checking the girl over. "Are you okay? Did they heal everything properly?"

"Rin, I'm sure the Doctors did just fine…" Minato tried to calm her, but she continued fussing anyway. Obito didn't rush in the same way, but he did make his way over to Hamai's side and quietly ask if she was alright.

"Of course not, she was attacked by rogue ninja." Kakashi interrupted snidely. Obito blushed and huffed at his teammate.

"I'm fine. Thanks, Obito." Hamai replied quietly, surprising both boys. Obito smiled at her before heading over to the wall and leaning against it, refusing to look at Kakashi. Minato beamed at his sister.

"Iruka told us as much as he could, but the blow to his head made everything muddled." Minato explained. "Shikaku and his parents are with him now. Itatchi is still out cold." He waited a moment. "Can you tell me what happened?" Hamai sucked in a breath.

"Well, we were really bored from the travel, so we asked to go and train. I guess we wandered further from the gate than we thought." Hamai looked up sheepishly, meeting the expected frown from Minato and glare from Kakashi. Minato and Kakashi took in breaths at the same time, but Kushina shut them both up with a look. "Some Mist Ninja appeared out of nowhere…"

"Were they rogue?" Minato asked.

"Their symbol would have a scratch on it." Kakashi explained. Hamai shook her head, thankful for the explanation.

"They weren't rogue." Minato's frown deepened. "They… they had arranged the mission. Their plan was to use whatever Genin was sent on the mission as a hostage. Then they found out who I was…"

"What? How?" Kushina asked. Hamai clasped her hands tightly and looked down at them.

"We were talking about it… we didn't think it would matter. We mentioned… everyone."

"Everyone?" Kakashi asked. She nodded.

"They heard I was your sister, friends with Kakashi, and had connections to Jiriaya…" She sighed. Minato looked crushed. "Their plan was to keep me until you became Hokage." Minato dropped into a chair and covered his face with his hands.

"I'm so sorry, Mai. I never thought it would be a problem… of course it will, though. Asuma has been prepared since birth to not let his name be known outside the village." Kushina wrapped her arms around her husband and lay her cheek against his shoulder.

"I just need to get better! I'll train even harder; I'll be able to protect myself! And now we know not to mention my name, I'll be fine, brother, I promise." Minato still didn't look up. "Kakashi, you'll work with me, right?"

"Hn." He nodded. "Every day."

"Perhaps…" Rin looked up, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "She should work with Asuma?" Hamai's eyes widened.

"Wh-why would I?" Kushina took notice of her blush, a smirk playing on her lips. Minato glanced up, curious as to the excited tone in his wife's voice.

"I think that's a wonderful idea! I'll talk to his Inoichi!" Minato's eyes narrowed, analyzing all the girls' reactions. Hamai watched him worriedly, for the first time hating that he was a genius. She glanced to Kakashi with hope, he would save her.

"I think I should work with her. I've been training her longer than anyone, I know how she learns." Hamai smiled at him, but Rin frowned. It had only been a few months ago, but Hamai was surprised it hadn't come up sooner. She had gone to practice with Minato and his team since her own had the day off.

* * *

***Flashback***

* * *

"Good practice, team. What do you say we go out to eat?" Minato smiled at his students. Hamai and Obito cheered loudly. "Great! Go collect your weapons and we'll go." He winked as they groaned, Kakashi always had his weapons picked up, but the other two, and now Hamai, tended to leave them out until the end.

Kakashi walked with Hamai, helping her pick out which kunai were hers until Minato called him over. Kakashi handed over the few he was holding and jogged over to his sensei. Rin stepped a bit closer to Hamai.

"Hey, I know we really haven't talked much, but…" She bit her lip and paused.

"What's up?" Hamai asked, giving the Namikaze smile. Rin seemed to gain some courage.

"Do you like Kakashi?" She blurted out quickly. The pinkette was confused.

"Of course I do! He's been with my family since I was just two; he's practically my other brother." Rin blushed and shook her head.

"I didn't mean in that way, I mean… as in… a crush." Hamai's eyes widened.

"Oh, no. I don't think I could look at Sempai like that." Hamai answered with such sincerity that Rin couldn't doubt her. "But Rin, you have a crush on him, right?" She smiled mischievously as Rin's blush deepened.

"I… well… he's so talented… and attractive… and smart…but, I mean… just…" She stumbled over her words and Hamai laughed.

"He already knows, Rin." The poor girl's blush worsened. "He is a genius. Don't worry, I can't keep anything from him either."

"He doesn't… I mean…" Rin bit her lip as she tried to ask her question. Hamai shrugged.

"He's more interested in being a ninja than anything. Sometimes I think the only reason he talks to me is because we train all the time." She said with a laugh, no bitterness in her voice. Rin stared at her curiously.

"You really don't feel bad about that?"

"Well, I know he cares. He just really sucks at showing it." Hamai shrugged, turning away from the girl. She watched the brunette out of the corner of her eye for a moment, taking in her sad expression and drooped posture. "He cares about you, too." Rin's eyes grew wide. "Just in his own, special, Kakashi-way." The girl grinned widely.

"That's all I can ask for." Hamai nodded. Kakashi was walking back toward them now. "So, is there anyone you're crushing on?" Hamai dropped the kunai and shuriken she hadn't yet put into her bag.

"What, what? No! Haha, no way!" Rin placed a hand on her hip.

"I hope that's not the best you can lie." Hamai laughed loudly and rubbed the back of her head.

"I'm not lying!" She said, wincing at how loudly she'd spoken. Kakashi groaned as well, reaching their group.

"What are you lying about?" He asked, causing Rin to giggle.

"Nothing! Especially not Asu… AHH!" She covered her mouth quickly.

"Asu… Asuma!" Rin smiled broadly at figuring out the secret. "Well, he is quite handsome, and very skilled. Though he never seems to smile."

"I'm used to that." Hamai waved in Kakashi's direction. She dropped her hands and let her whole posture slump over. Rin giggled again.

"Aww, come on. It's not so bad. I won't tell anyone." Hamai smiled back at her wearily.

"You better not." Hamai sighed. "At least not, Kushina, please." Rin raised her eyebrow and Kakashi answered.

"She gets excited about romance."

"That's putting it mildly." Hamai snorted. Kakashi bent down and picked up her dropped weapons.

"I've told you before to take care of these better. Doesn't Shikaku Sensei get on you about these?" Kakashi placed them into their proper places in Hamai's pouch as she held it open.

"I don't leave them out there, we run laps if don't pick them up right after the exercise." Kakashi grunted.

"Then do that here."

"But then you wouldn't do it for me." She pointed out, just as he put the last shuriken away. He stilled, sighed, then prodded her head with his fist.

"I'm practicing my Water Dragon on you later." He turned and walked away from the two girls and Rin smiled broadly.

"So he knows?" Hamai nodded. "But he doesn't care?"

"Why would he? Well, he gave me a long lecture about not letting silly feelings get in the way of training."

"He's not… jealous?" Rin tried again. Hamai raised her eyebrow before glaring.

"You're doing the same thing Kushina did! No!" Rin started laughing and the two ran back toward the boys, who were now waiting on them. "Stop it! Rin! Don't make me regret telling you!"

* * *

***End***

* * *

Much to Hamai's surprise, neither Kushina nor Rin frowned at Kakashi's objection, if anything their smiles grew brighter. Even Minato seemed to smile a bit. Kakashi sighed, understanding what they were doing, but Hamai was still lost. Obito sighed loudly from his spot against the wall, he was completely missing everything.

"So does that mean we're going to be stuck with her more?" He whined. "Kakashi is enough, I don't need his mini-me."

"You think I'm a mini-him?" Hamai perked up.

"That wasn't a compliment…" Obito frowned. Kakashi rubbed Hamai's hair fondly.

"You're getting there." She sat up quickly to hug him, gasping and grabbing onto her side as she felt like she was being stabbed all over again. Kakashi caught her as she fell sideways, nearly off the bed entirely. Rin rushed over and lifted her shirt enough to check her wound.

"She's bleeding again." Rin's hands began to glow a bright green as she activated her medical jutsu.

"Sorry." Hamai breathed out.

"Don't talk; just try not to pass out." Kushina stood and shooed Minato, Kakashi, and Obito out.

"Go get a doctor, let Rin concentrate." A doctor came within minutes, but by then Rin had already sealed the wound again, and was working on rebadging it.

"Very good work." She complimented. Only then did Rin look up and notice who was there.

"Lady Tsunade!" Rin gave a quickly bow. "Th-thank you!" Tsunade waved her off, double checking the work. "You've got a lot of skill." She nodded before marking what happened down on the charts. "Hamai you need to rest more. Your brother should have known better than to bring all these people in to see you." She grumbled. "I'm going to have a talk with him."

"It's not his fault, it was mine. I knew I should have been careful." Tsunade waved her off.

"I should go. Be careful, Hamai." Rin waved and headed out. "I'll tell the others not to come back."

"Thanks, good luck." The two girls shared a laugh.

"So that's Rin." Tsunade commented once the door closed.

"You've heard of her?" Hamai asked.

"Minato talks about his students all the time, Jiriaya talks about what he talks about. I end up hearing things." She put the clipboard down and smirked. "No real competition, huh?"

"What?"

"She's got a crush on Kakashi, too, right?"

"Too… ugg!" Hamai crossed her arms, gently this time. "I'm ten! And I won't have a crush on someone who's practically my brother. I don't even have that big of a crush on Asuma, I just want to be the best ninja out there, why is that so hard to believe!" She ranted. Tsunade snorted.

"Love will catch you sometime. It always does." She said bitterly. "Watch yourself; don't let any boys catch you. Stick with Kakashi; he'll keep you on the right track." Hamai thought about her words as she left. Surely love wasn't so awful a thing… was it?

* * *

This line feature is so handy! I love it :) Anywho, hope you enjoyed! I've already started on the next chapter... there's a fairly big time skip at the start, mostly just because I don't like writing about recoveries and I beat three of the main characters up pretty badly. (and it was fun... :/)

Until then,

Skye~


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